Restraining garment for children



Jan. 16, 195i M. E. OBREEN 2,538,469

RESTRAINING GARMENT FOR CHILDREN 5. Filed March 14, 1950 Patented Jan.16, 1951 RESTRAINING GARMENT FOR CHILDREN Mercedes E. OBrien, Dunmore,Pa.

Application March 14, 1950, Serial No. 149,472

- l The present invention relates to improvements in a restraininggarment for children and has 2 Claims. 101. 12s. 1ss) for an object theprovision of an improved garment for preventing the wearer fromscratching sores, itchy areas or the'like on his face, such as infantileeczema.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedgarment of this type which will effectively prevent the child fromscratching his-facewith his'hands and at the same time will permit himsubstantially the free use of his arms and hands for playing or similarmovements thereof and to roll over while sleeping.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedrestraining garment which will not harm or in any way irritate the childso that it may be worn with comfort and without the child feeling thatits movements are unduly hampered.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide animproved garment of this character which can be made up in variousstandard sizes and which will admit of being altered by the mother tofit a particular child. The garment can also be madeup in variousstyles, such as a nightgown, shirt, dress or jacket.

A further object 'is to provide a childs arm restraining jacket whichpermits free movements of the arms from the shoulders but limits thebending of the elbows so that the child cannot reach h s face or headwith his hands.

The present invention also aims to provide an improved garment whichcould be beneficially used after operations on the head or face ofchildren to prevent them from pulling at the surgical dressings;

'In one of its broadest aspects the present invention contemplates theprovision of an improved restraining garment for children comprising abody receiving portion, sleeves on said body portion, a layer offlexible material attached to the upper arm portion of each sleeve,spaced apart pockets provided between the upper arm portion of eachsleeve and. said layers and terminating at their lower ends at that partof the sleeve which surrounds the elbow joints of the child, and staysreceived by said pockets and having their lower ends engaging the lowerends of said pockets.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will behereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings, in which the same parts are denoted by the samethroughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improved restraining garmentconstructed in accordance with the present invention and showing thelimited bend of the childs'arms at the elbow,

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the improved garment,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line .3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, A generall indicates agarment which in the present illustration is a jacket for a child. The

jacket A comprises a body receiving portion l0 and sleeves H. The bodyportion IEI is open down the front and is provided with fasteningelements such as buttons or the like l2. These fastening elements couldbe in the form of zippers or any other conventional form of fasteners orthe jacket A could be of the pull-over type thus eliminating thenecessity of fastening elements. The body portion is also provided witha neck receiving opening l3. The sleeves I I in the present illustrationare formed integral with the body portion It! but they may be separatepieces of materi l appropriatel sewed to the body portion l0. Eachsleeve I l compreses an upper arm portion Ila and a lower arm portion lbfor receiving respectively the upper arm and the lower arm of a child.The lower end part of the upper arm portion will encircle the elbowjoint of the child when the garment is worn by the child.

A layer of material It substantially encircles the upper portion Ila ofeach sleeve II and extends from the upper end of the portion Ila to thelower end thereof and is secured at its upper end to the upper end ofthe port on Ila by a row of stitches l5. The layer [4 may be made fromthe same material as the garment A or of any other suitable material.Angularly spaced apart pockets l6 are formed between the outer face ofthe u per sleeve portion l l a and the inner face of the layer [4 bylateral rows of stitches l1 and I8 and end rows of stitches l9.

These pockets receive stays 29 which may be made of plastic, wood, orthe like. The lower ends of the pockets are closed by a circumferen tialrow of stitches 2|. The layer of material H! has its lower end securedto the lower end of reference numerals the portion Ila by a row ofstitches 22. The sleeve closing seam is indicated at 23. The outer endsof the sleeves H may be closed as indicated at 24 or may be left open.In practice, the child should preferably have two garments, one withsleeves H closed for night wear and one with sleeves l i open for daywear.

In the use of the proposed garment it may be applied as illustrated inFigure 1 of the drawing to a child. B. It will be noted from Figure I ofthe drawing that when attempting to bend his arms at the elbow joint,generally indicated at C, the upper portion of the forearm immediatelybelow the elbow joint C will come into engagement with the lower ends ofthe stays 221 so that only a limited amount of flexing or bending of thearm is permitted. This permitted amount oi bending of the arms isinsumcient to allow the child to reach his face with his hands. Thestays 20 are preferably so positioned with reference to the childs elbowjoint that in the use of the garment the lower ends of stays at areabout'one' to one and one-half inches below the elbow joints when thearms are extended. The stays i must be positioned to keep the elbowjoints from bending fully and yet permit limited bend" ing. of thechilds arm at the elbows. ihe stays 211 permit the child sufficientfreedom of bend at the elbow joints yet will prevent him from touchinghis face or head with his hands.

Whenthe. forearm of the child engages the lower ends of the. stays 20further bending movement is arrested by the fact that the upper ends ofthe. stays will engage the areas of the body of the child adjacent tohis arms. However, noinjury or discomfort. will be caused the childsince the ends of the stays are smoothly rounded. off and are paddedsufilciently by the material of the garment- The stays are sodisposed atthe elbow joint of. the child to. afford free movement of his arms whileplaying with his toys or the like and so that he can. hold on to hisplay pen or crib while walking around therein. This location of thestays at the elbow joint and in circumferens tially spaced apartrelation to each other will permit the child to roll with comfort. whilehe. is asleep- The present invention embraces. the concept of providingan improved restraining garment for children comprising a bodyreceiving. portion, sleeves on said body portion, a layer of flexiblematerial attached to the upper arm portion of 1 the lower ends of saidpockets, whereby in use the child is permitted free movement of his armsat the shoulders and limited movement at the elbows to prevent the childfrom reaching his face or head with his hands.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof;such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims.

What I claim is:

1. An improved. restraining garment for children comprising a bodyreceiving portion, sleeves on said body portion, a layer of flexiblematerial attached to. the. upper arm portion of each sleeve, spacedapart pockets provided between said layer and the upper arm portion ofeach sleeve and terminating at their lower ends at that part of thesleeve adapted to bepositioned at the upper end portion of the forearm,the upper ends of saidv pockets terminating adjacent the areas of thebody of the child which are close to his upper arms, and stays in said,pockets. and having their elbows to prevent the: child from reaching hisface or head with. his. hands.

2. An. improved restraining garmentas claimed in claim 1 characterizedby the fact that the. stays diverge upwardly towards. the areas of thebody of the child which are close to. his upper arms so that the upperends of the stays will. engage a relatively large part.- of said bodyareas.

MERCEDES E- O'BRIEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of. record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

1,452,998 Bowers Apr. 24, 1923 1,561,400 Begg, Nov. 10, 1925' 1,635,230Spicer Aug. 12, 1927 1,796,869 Horwitz Mar. 1'7, 1931 1,944,451 Newman Jan..23, 1934 2,279,296. Bresnickv Apr... 14, 1942

